A Heavy Burden
by Victorian Rush
Summary: Lillie may have a rough upbringing but now, she has Gary and that is all she needs. Bondingshipping with minor Alohashipping.


Wow, my first story. About time.

So, this is a request I received over on the serebiiforums from another user. He wanted a Bondingshipping story with a subplot of Lillie's father being in the Alolan Army. I personally really loved how it came out.

I hope you guys enjoy it as well.

* * *

Engagement is supposed to be a happy time for the family and friends of those getting engaged. It is a time to celebrate the joyous union of two people, who have agreed to get married. But for Lillie, it was anything but joyful.

It's not that she is not happy for her friends, she is. She could be more was thrilled at the fact that two of her friends are going to get married. Both Ash and Mallow were her classmates at the Pokemon School years ago. She has known the two of them for years and she loves them both very much, as if they are her siblings. She was so happy when she learned that Ash had finally proposed to Mallow after years of dating.

What she was upset about was the fact that it is almost the anniversary of her father's death. Lillie's father was a member of the Alolan Army before he met his demise when she was just a child.

Lillie remembered that day as if it were yesterday. She was at school when Hobbs showed up. He had been informed about what happened and came to the school to let Lillie know. Pretty much everything after that was a blur to Lillie, all she can remember is falling to the ground in tears.

She could not help but feel jealous whenever any of her classmates talked about their fathers when she does not have hers.

Losing her father was so rough for her. She felt like an orphan. Her mother was always so wrapped up in her work that she completely neglected her daughter until she went off the deep end. Her older brother was off somewhere training to become the world's strongest trainer. Lillie was pretty much alone for most of her life. She had missed several days of school because she could find it in herself to get up out of bed. Most of the time, she would just lay in bed and stare up at the ceiling, unable to do anything else.

It's been years since she first lost him and Lillie still struggles with it. She puts on this facade that she is fine when she really is not. The last thing she wants to do is make her friends worry about her.

"Lillie, are you okay?" She could hear someone calling out to her and she looked up to see her longtime boyfriend, Gary Oak, looking at her concerned.

Not wanting to make him worry, Lillie just nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Gary did not believe Lillie at all. He has been with Lillie for a couple of years and he can tell when his girlfriend is upset and he did not know why. He really cares about her and wishes she would tell him about what is going on inside her head.

Now that he thinks about it, it is always around the same time of year that she gets upset and he has no idea. Lillie won't say a word about why but Gary has seen it. He notices a lot of his girlfriend's weird antics though. Also, he could not help but wonder if something happened on a particular day that makes Lillie upset. It has been like this since the two of them started dating.

Before Gary had the chance to further push Lillie, Ash and Mallow walked up to the two of them. "Hey, guys!" Mallow could not keep the excitement off her face as she embraced Gary before turning to hug her best friend. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course, we could not think of anywhere else to be."

Ash and Mallow looked and smiled at each other before looking back at Gary and Lillie. "We have something to give you guys."

Hearing Mallow say that surprised Lillie. It is their engagement party. Normally the couple who is celebrating don't give out gifts; they are the ones receiving the gifts. Why would Ash and Mallow have a gift to give them? It makes no sense.

Ash handed an envelope to Lillie, who opened it while her boyfriend looked over her shoulder at the card. The front of the card was nothing special, it just had a picture of a Pichu on it but it was what was in the inside of the card that shocked both Gary and Lillie.

_'Can't wait to read poetry and take walks with you guys one day. Love your unborn niece or nephew.'_

Both of them stared at it in disbelief before looking up at Ash and Mallow. "Wait, what?!" Lillie questioned the pair at the same time Gary shouted, "is this a ****ing joke?!"

Mallow just laughed and gave a picture to the couple. Gary took it from her and both of them looked at it. It was a picture of a sonogram and they could see something about the size of a peanut on it but both Gary and Lillie know exactly what it is. A baby. Mallow is pregnant with the couple's first child and needless to say, both of them are very excited by the news.

Without even saying a single word, Lillie just lunged forward to hug Mallow while softly crying into her shoulder. "Oh my Arceus!"

"Congrats, guys." Gary smiled before embracing his best friend and Mallow. "How far along are you, Mallow?"

"Not very far, we just found out." Mallow smiled as Lillie pulled away from her to embrace Ash next.

Lillie was completely overjoyed at the news and she could barely find the words to speak. She is going to be an aunt. Her best friend is pregnant. Does it get any better than that? Probably not. "This is amazing. I'm so happy for you guys."

Gary smiled. "Who would have thought that Ashy-boy here would become a father before I do?"

Ash rolled his eyes and groaned. "Gary!"

"I'm just kidding, Ash." Gary chuckled, throwing his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "But in all honesty, I'm so happy for you guys. I can't wait to have children of my own one day."

As soon as those words came out of Gary's mouth, Lillie's smile dropped. Her thoughts immediately went back to what she had been thinking about before Ash and Mallow came over. Her father.

Perhaps it was stupid of her to feel that way but she could not help it. She misses her father. She misses him every day and wishes he was here with her. It kills her to know that he is gone. He went off to fight for his region and ended up paying for it with his life and while Lillie knows it was what he wanted, she felt like a damaged individual. Not having her father around caused her mother, Lusamine, to go crazy.

Lillie could feel the tears coming to her eyes. "Excuse me." Lillie turned off and started running out the door with the eyes of Gary, Ash, and Mallow following her out the door.

Mallow frowned. She knows presciously why Lillie was feeling the way she did and she could not blame her. Truth be told, Mallow knows exactly how Lillie feels because her mother is dead as well. It was different for Mallow though, however. Lillie father passed by serving for his region, Mallow's mother passed from an overdose.

And Mallow also knows she is the only one who knows about Lillie's father. Lillie never told Gary about what happened in the the past.

Gary knew something was up with his girlfriend and briefly said goodbye to Ash and Mallow before following Lillie outside. He found her sitting on a bench outside, staring off into space. He took a seat next to her and looked at her but Lillie refused to look at him. "What's up, Lillie?"

Lillie scuffed and turned her head away from her boyfriend. "Nothing's wrong; I'm fine"

"No, you're not." Gary calmly told her. "You've been acting weird all day long. You were constantly getting distracted today and not listening to me. That's not like you so what's going on." Lillie sighed and just looked at the ground but said nothing so Gary continued. "You know I'm here for you so please talk to me."

Lillie sighed and looked up at the sky. She might as well come clean and tell Gary the truth about her family, he deserves to know. She was afraid of Gary thinking about her differently and possibly breaking up with her when he finds out about her baggage. "There's something you should know about me. Something very important that I have not told you yet."

Gary looked over at her and stayed quiet, which told Lillie to continue. She looked down at the ground and sighed. "My father was in the Alolan Navy." Okay, why would she be afraid to tell me that? Gary could not help but ask himself. "He went to war when I just was three years old. He was supposed to be there for a couple of years before he came home. He never did. I remember it was a few months before he was supposed to come back home. I was six and seeing my father again was all I could think about. I never did get to see him again. He was killed when he stepped on a mine."

That was when Lillie broke down. Gary said nothing; his heart broke by what his girlfriend told him. All he could do was wrap his arm around her, pulling her in close, allowing Lillie to cry into his shoulder. All of a sudden, it makes sense why Lillie never mentioned her father. He died when she was a child.

He waited until Lillie pulled away before he said something. "If it's any comfort to you, I know exactly how you feel. My father is not in my life. I don't know who he is. He has been on his own journey since the day I was born."

"Really?" Lillie's heart broke for her boyfriend. At least she knows who her father was, poor Gary does not. "I'm sorry, Gary."

"Don't be." Gary told her, "as far as I'm concerned, I don't have a father. I don't need him." Gary looked up at her. "But I have a feeling there's more about your family."

Lillie nodded her head. "You're right, there is more." Lillie paused and looked up at the sky before she continued, "this next part is very hard for me to tell but I will try my best to tell you."

"Okay."

The blonde took a deep breath. "Losing my father was extremely hard on my mother. She went crazy. When I was ten, I was still living at Aether Paradise. My mother got power hungry after she encountered an ultra beast, Nihilego. My brother, seeing what she was doing to his partner, Type:Null, fled, leaving me alone with my mother. It was so hard for me. She used to constantly berate me, call me worthless, and what not. The only thing she never did was physically abuse me but she might as well have.

I don't know how but eventually, she found this Pokemon called Cosmog, which had the power to open up an ultra wormhole. She was so cruel to it and I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. I took Cosmog and fled Aether Paradise. Professor Kukui's wife, Professor Burnet, found me unconscious on a beach with Cosmog in my bag and the both of them took me in."

Gary's heart broke as Lillie explained in detail about what had happened to her in the past. That is extremely hard on someone; it's so no wonder why she was hesitant to get too close to him in the beginning.

"Eventually, my mom found me and had me brought back to Aether. She used Cosmog's power to open up the ultra wormhole. Long story short, she went to Nihilego's world. I followed her, along with a friend, his name is James. I got my mother to come back with me and I brought her to Kanto to help her get better."

"Was this around the time we met?" Gary could not help but ask.

Lillie simply nodded. "Yes. Eventually, she got worse and I had no choice but to have her committed to a mental hospital."

Gary's mouth dropped and he just stared at his girlfriend, unsure of what to say. "I'm so sorry, Lillie."

Lillie just shook her head. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Lillie just shrugged her shoulders. "I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Gary asked.

"Afraid that you would you think of me differently when you found out about my past."

Gary just softly frowned and shook his head. "This changes nothing about how I feel about you. I'm still as crazy about you now as I was back then. Nothing will change that."

Lillie's face instantly lit up with what Gary had just told her. "You're amazing. You know that?"

Gary, jokingly, laughed and said, "I know." Then his eyes softened and he looked her softly, his eyes filled with nothing but love for his girlfriend. "I love you, Lillie."

Lillie smiled so big, it looked like her face could be torn in half. "I love you too."

With that, the couple shared their first kiss.

The blonde girl felt relieved; it was like a heavy burden has been lifted off her chest. Needless to say, it feels good. Really good. She could not help but smile. She does not know why she waited for so long to come clean to Gary about her past but she is glad she did. Now she knows she has a very loyal man, who would never abandon her and who would love her through all of her problems.

And that was something she never knew she needed till today.


End file.
